Satisfying

Every day Christ calls us to come to His table.

We no longer have to scramble for food. It has been provided. We just have to wash our hands and hearts with the power of God's Word and come to Love's lavish spread. The more we thoughtfully read, meditate, and pray the scriptures is the more our ears get tuned to the Creator's frequencies. We hear His invitation to come, sit, and eat with Him and be satisfied.

Other tables entice us. They draw eye and taste buds, but the fare makes us sluggish.  A steady diet of glazed strawberries on cheese cake (while tempting) do not deliver the nourishment we were designed to have. Also, poor eating habits--if we don't eat enough, eat healthily, or on time--can lead to sickness. A diet of sugars, refined products, and deserts drains energy and lures us away from  life giving food. When we let schedule or stress push God's nourishment aside, we chose a level of dis-ease and dis-satisfaction.

So we choose what will satisfy.

Facing Wisdom across the table, we smile and exhale the deep satisfaction God called us to experience.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Using the Lectio Divina, read Isaiah 55: 1-3 slowly and thoughtfully.
After a second reading, take time to reflect on the image or phrase the Holy Spirit gives.
On the third reading, prayerfully respond to God's nudgings.
Lastly, reread the Scripture and lean back to rest, satisfied with your Lord's nourishment.

Deep Cleaning

My carpets weren't in terrible shape but I knew I could stay ahead of the grunge by another deep cleaning. It had only been four months, so I was amazed how brown the water became.

 We think we are clean, but a day or just a couple hours spent deliberately asking for God's cleansing will often reveal dirt we didn’t know was there. 

The rhythm of regular Scripture reading, meditation, and obedience is as important for the soul as is regular vacuuming for carpets.
 
Additionally, periodic deep cleaning flushes out dirt entwined in the fibers.

Residual pride blended into the background… shame many moons old… worry unseen because of familiarity …. These are some of the surprises we might find when we submit ourselves to the Deep Cleaner.

The good news is that God loves to accommodate our desire to be holy when we present Him with humble hearts. He provides tools that clean thoroughly: it may be an eternal principle applied to a new spot or, perhaps, a clearer Light that reveals previously hidden spots. The Counselor reminds us of particular scriptures, offers life changing encounters, and encourages us to do what it takes to get clean.

It takes clearing our calendars, requesting the best the Holy Spirit offers, and-- not least -- humbling ourselves before Him.

So, Holy Spirit, we humbly prepare for and anticipate the relief of Your deep cleaning.

 For Your Consideration

Please make time to read these verses in context.

Those who cleanse themselves ... will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work (2 Timothy 2:21, NIV).

For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite (Isaiah 57:15, NIV)

How might God be preparing you for some deep cleaning? What preparations do you need to make?

A Taste of Love: Practicing God's Presence

A Taste of Love is the title of the upcoming Women's Spiritual Refresher on March 12th, 2011. I plan to reference the Great Commandment along with a touch of spiritual disciplines (worship, prayer, scripture meditation and service) to set the table for a taste of God's love.

We women are busy -- with good things -- but often we don't take the time just to enjoy God's presence.

My goal is to give women an opportunity to focus on God through the disciplines and so open doors to experience more of God's presence.

To love our precious Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength produces joy in God's presence. Oh how I pray -- and invite you to pray with me-- that we will experience Love's presence.

I am praying that the Holy Spirit who presents Christ's living PRESENCE to us, will sharpen my thoughts and heart. I desire that God use me to bless the dear women who will be coming.Would you join me in praying that?

A Taste of Love is open to women in the north Indiana area and will be held at the Mount Etna United Methodist Church at the corner of Highways 9 and 124. For more information, or to get a brochure, please leave a comment below, or email me at transformingword@sbcglobal.net.

Faith to Overcome

I keep asking God to increase my faith.

When people or things I love are thrown to the ground, I sometimes feel like the man who asked Jesus to heal his mute, epileptic son. Jesus' disciples had not been able to cast out the spirit, and the man wasn't so sure now that Jesus could do it either. "Have mercy on us and help us, if you can" (Mark 9:22, NLT)

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes” (verse 23).

He looked into Jesus' eyes, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (verse 24).

I expect Jesus' question penetrated this father's best hopes and fears. He believed, but he had his doubts.

Unbelief shrinks God to what we've seen and heard. When the limitations of our mind stop us short of the goal and when trusted experts hit the wall of their own expertise, hope get thrown to the ground like the young man. Our senses and experience lie that we are undone and tempt faith to step back from trusting God.

Those are the best times to turn to our Helper. Those are opportunities to let Jesus help us overcome blocks to belief -- to have overcoming faith. They are occasions for God's Holy Spirit to remind us of His presence and greater power at work in us. (See Philippians 2: 12-13; 2 Corinthians 10:3-6.)

Paul says that hearing comes by faith through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17), and John writes, "The Spirit of truth ... will guide you into all truth." (John 16:13).

Regular hearing, reading and applying God's word, then, is critical for opening us to the Word and the Spirit. They train us to jump unbelief's hurdles.

As we make ourselves available to Christ's transforming word, God's grace helps us hear Jesus asking, 'Do you believe I can do this?'

Yes, Lord. Help me believe.

For Your Consideration

When you become aware of doubt, look for your underlying belief:

Do you assume God doesn't love you? That God is surprised or disappointed by you? Or do you think God is either powerless or disinterested? Are you blaming God for consequences of your own behavior? Or are you projecting onto God? -- How do the scriptures speak specifically to the issue you have identified?

What will you do about your discoveries?

Delighted by Red on Gray

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Teaching is a wonderful way for me to learn.

To teach effectively, I have to absorb the material until it weaves itself into my fabric. Consequently, teaching “Spiritual Disciplines” at our District’s Lay Speaker’s Academy has required that I dust off some classic disciplines and that has afforded me several delightful encounters with God’s Spirit.

Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton (IVP, 2006) came to me highly recommended, and I wholeheartedly pass on the recommendation. Ms Barton is vulnerable, insightful, and practical, while sharing her treasures and welcoming you to find your own sacred rhythms.

The format for this particular course allows 3 hour sessions on 3 consecutive Sundays, so the challenge is to teach while incorporating time to savor God’s presence through some of the disciplines. Just teaching and practicing any one discipline could easily take an hour, but because of time constraints, I walk a tightrope of highlighting content then choosing an exercise or two for the students to experience. This past week we focused on discovering our “Breath Prayers,”and self-examination.

While referencing Psalm 139, I was making a point how we, finite creatures, encounter God’s grandeur. I shared how God often uses nature to reveal Himself to me. “Look outside,” I gestured.

Beyond the window and glass door a swollen, brown river hurried by and a nearby tree stood naked against the gray sky … until a cardinal’s red silhouette suddenly painted the dark trunk.

I was stunned. The timing of my eye meeting that cardinal’s brief perch, while making a point about encountering God, opened another window for the whole class to experience God. In that small room, twenty-three of us were privy to God’s fresh communication as I explained how God has often used cardinals on bleak days to remind me of the Holy Spirit’s vibrancy.

Our Creator punctuates the mundane with delightful surprises. When our attentiveness meets the beauty of God, a vibrant red bird on a gray day can remind us of the Holy Spirit’s revelations, bringing the hush of God to attentive hearts!



Scripture: Psalm 139

For Your Consideration

How can you develop an attentive heart?

Where do you sense the Holy Spirit at work in your life?

What, in your experience, registers God's love for you?